Where does “illegible” come from?
Illegible comes from Middle English in- prefixed to Latin legibilis (from legere, to read), with the prefix ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ne (not).
illegible (English): Not clear enough to be read; unreadable; not...
Definitions
- Not clear enough to be read; unreadable; not...
Ancestry of “illegible”, step by step
illegible traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Catalan llegible
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Catalan | llegible | legible |
| 2 | Catalan | llegir | to read |
| 3 | Latin | legere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 4 | Latin | legō | to collect, gather, bring together, catch |
| 5 | Latin | lēx | a proposition or motion for a law made to the people by a magistrate, a bill |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | lēg- | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | leǵ-s | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | leǵ- | to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to... |